The man with a serious chance to become the nation's first black president argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all.

"I have said in the past _ and I'll repeat again _ that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed," the Illinois Democrat said recently.

Some two dozen members of Congress are co-sponsors of legislation to create a commission that would study reparations _ that is, payments and programs to make up for the damage done by slavery.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People supports the legislation, too. Cities around the country, including Obama's home of Chicago, have endorsed the idea, and so has a major union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Obama has worked to be seen as someone who will bring people together, not divide them into various interest groups with checklists of demands. Supporting reparations could undermine that image and make him appear to be pandering to black voters.

"Let's not be naive. Sen. Obama is running for president of the United States, and so he is in a constant battle to save his political life," said Kibibi Tyehimba, co-chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. "In light of the demographics of this country, I don't think it's realistic to expect him to do anything other than what he's done."

But this is not a position Obama adopted just for the presidential campaign. He voiced the same concerns about reparations during his successful run for the Senate in 2004.

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There's enough flexibility in the term "reparations" that Obama can oppose them and still have plenty of common ground with supporters.

The NAACP says reparations could take the form of government programs to help struggling people of all races. Efforts to improve schools in the inner city could also aid students in the mountains of West Virginia, said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau.

"The solution could be broad and sweeping," Shelton said.

The National Urban League _ a group Obama addressed Saturday without mentioning the issue in his speech _ avoids the word "reparations" as too vague and highly charged. But the group advocates government action to close the gaps between white America and black America.

Urban League President Marc Morial said he expects his members to press Obama on how he intends to close those gaps and what action he would take in the first 100 days of his presidency.

"What steps should we take as a nation to alleviate the effects of racial exclusion and racial discrimination?" Morial asked.

The House voted this week to apologize for slavery. The resolution, which was approved on a voice vote, does not mention reparations, but past opponents have argued that an apology would increase pressure for concrete action.

Obama says an apology would be appropriate but not particularly helpful in improving the lives of black Americans. Reparations could also be a distraction, he said.

In a 2004 questionnaire, he told the NAACP, "I fear that reparations would be an excuse for some to say, 'We've paid our debt,' and to avoid the much harder work."

Taking questions Sunday at a conference of minority journalists, Obama said he would be willing to talk to American Indian leaders about an apology for the nation's treatment of their people.

Pressed for his position on apologizing to blacks or offering reparations, Obama said he was more interested in taking action to help people struggling to get by. Because many of them are minorities, he said, that would help the same people who would stand to benefit from reparations.

"If we have a program, for example, of universal health care, that will disproportionately affect people of color, because they're disproportionately uninsured," Obama said. "If we've got an agenda that says every child in America should get _ should be able to go to college, regardless of income, that will disproportionately affect people of color, because it's oftentimes our children who can't afford to go to college."

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ankhur
regardless of what it is called are Black folks to be called fools into believing th first Black president had absolutely no idea of a referendum clearly sting the US is not responsible for reperations, and that the referendum was made i secret in the white house by white folks he did not know, what in the world are you saying, most Black folks here remember his own statements regarding reperations;

Yes, it does matter WHAT IT IS CALLED. Because what a legislative motion is CALLED, frames and defines what it DOES and what it DOESN'T DO.

There is a difference between a BILL and a RESOLUTION.

And there is a process that a BILL must go through in order to become a LAW.

Obviously, you also have NO idea what a REFERENDUM is either. A "Referendum" is a proposal to overturn legislation that is already in effect.

And as we know, there is NO law already in effect on Reparations.

Ankhur, you are passing FALSE INFORMATION to my People and I don't appreciate it.

Get your facts straight first.

So, LET US BE CLEAR that H.R. 40 on Reparations, introduced by Rep. John Conyers, is still IN EFFECT.

NOT ONE PIECE OF LEGISLATION EXISTS THAT SAYS REPARATIONS ARE DENIED.

OBVIOUSLY, YOU NEED A REFRESHER ON HOW THE BI-CAMERAL and EXECUTIVE process works.

HERE'S AN ELEMENTARY ILLUSTRATION THAT, HOPEFULLY, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by cherryblossom
Yes, it does matter WHAT IT IS CALLED. Because what a legislative motion is CALLED, frames and defines what it DOES and what it DOESN'T DO.

There is a difference between a BILL and a RESOLUTION.

And there is a process that a BILL must go through in order to become a LAW.

Obviously, you also have NO idea what a REFERENDUM is either. A "Referendum" is a proposal to overturn legislation that is already in effect.

And as we know, there is NO law already in effect on Reparations.

Ankhur, you are passing FALSE INFORMATION to my People and I don't appreciate it.

Get your facts straight first.

So, LET US BE CLEAR that H.R. 40 on Reparations, introduced by Rep. John Conyers, is still IN EFFECT.

NOT ONE PIECE OF LEGISLATION EXISTS THAT SAYS REPARATIONS ARE DENIED.

OBVIOUSLY, YOU NEED A REFRESHER ON HOW THE BI-CAMERAL and EXECUTIVE process works.

HERE'S AN ELEMENTARY ILLUSTRATION THAT, HOPEFULLY, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND.....

I most humbly and grovelingly apologize for the heinous and grievous crime of making a mistake about a bill, referedum ao what ever you wanna call it, please oh please have mercy on my wretchedness for being so sinfull as to make a mistAKEREGARDING SYMANTICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, BUT THE PRESIDENT'S POSITION REGARDING THIS IS POSTED SO FOLKS CAN MAKE UP THEIR OWN MIND REGARDING THAT ISH,

SO REALY NO REASON FOR EVERY POST TO BE A PERSONAL ANKHUR THIS AND A PERSONAL ANKHUR THAT, DO YOU REALY KNOW ANTHING ABOUT INTERNET ETIQUETTE AT ALL BEFORE YOU BLATANTLY ACCUSE ANYONE ABOUT ANYTHING?,

THE FOLKS WHO READ THIS POST CLEARLY SEE WHAT THE POSTION, STANCE, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT IS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE,

I LET FOLKS MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS BECAUSE I HAVE ENOUGH RESPECT FOR THE MEMBERS OF THIS BOARD

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First, I want to thank you for admitting your falsehoods about Resolution 26.

"SEMANTICS" has nothing to do with it. Your INACCURATE information was misleading.

In reality, you just really had no idea how to differentiate between a Resolution, a Bill, nor a Referendum.

Secondly, I want people to find out the truth for themselves.

I don't want them to take your word for it nor mine and, most especially, not take the word of the Huffington Post, which is a print media just barely above the National Enquirer.

Besides.....if H.R. 40 gets out of the House AND gets through the Senate BEFORE President Obama's term is up for him to either SIGN it or VETO it, THEN we'll ALL know exactly what his position is on Reparations.

We will talk about Indigenous African-American Reparations every Wednesday at 6 PM EST, beginning next week 11-4-09. Yes November is Reparations Education Month. You can join us at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Black-Reparations to post and answer blogs or call in at 347-850-8160 to listen and share your thoughts. If you go to the site you can listen to 3 previous shows to get an idea of reparations and the strategy our people can use to win reparations. Reparations should be taught and understood as a healing source for the races not a divisive issue. I am going to make sure this change occurs.

QUOTE=cherryblossom;608950]First, I want to thank you for admitting your falsehoods about Resolution 26.

"SEMANTICS" has nothing to do with it. Your INACCURATE information was misleading.

In reality, you just really had no idea how to differentiate between a Resolution, a Bill, nor a Referendum.

Secondly, I want people to find out the truth for themselves.

I don't want them to take your word for it nor mine and, most especially, not take the word of the Huffington Post, which is a print media just barely above the National Enquirer.

Besides.....if H.R. 40 gets out of the House AND gets through the Senate BEFORE President Obama's term is up for him to either SIGN it or VETO it, THEN we'll ALL know exactly what his position is on Reparations.[/QUOTE]

don't want them to take your word for it nor mine and, most especially, not take the word of the Huffington Post, which is a print media just barely above the National Enquirer.

Which actualy means you respect no ones intelligence regarding the matter by slandering the source the way Ann Coulter does

By Christopher Wills, Associated Press Writer
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama opposes offering reparations to the descendants of slaves, putting him at odds with some black groups and leaders.
The man with a serious chance to become the nation's first black president argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all.

"I have said in the past -- and I'll repeat again -- that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed," the Illinois Democrat said recently.

Some two dozen members of Congress are co-sponsors of legislation to create a commission that would study reparations -- that is, payments and programs to make up for the damage done by slavery.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People supports the legislation, too. Cities around the country, including Obama's home of Chicago, have endorsed the idea, and so has a major union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Obama has worked to be seen as someone who will bring people together, not divide them into various interest groups with checklists of demands. Supporting reparations could undermine that image and make him appear to be pandering to black voters.

"Let's not be naive. Sen. Obama is running for president of the United States, and so he is in a constant battle to save his political life," said Kibibi Tyehimba, co-chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. "In light of the demographics of this country, I don't think it's realistic to expect him to do anything other than what he's done."

But this is not a position Obama adopted just for the presidential campaign. He voiced the same concerns about reparations during his successful run for the Senate in 2004.

There's enough flexibility in the term "reparations" that Obama can oppose them and still have plenty of common ground with supporters.

The NAACP says reparations could take the form of government programs to help struggling people of all races. Efforts to improve schools in the inner city could also aid students in the mountains of West Virginia, said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau.

"The solution could be broad and sweeping," Shelton said.

The National Urban League -- a group Obama addressed Saturday without mentioning the issue in his speech -- avoids the word "reparations" as too vague and highly charged. But the group advocates government action to close the gaps between white America and black America.

Urban League President Marc Morial said he expects his members to press Obama on how he intends to close those gaps and what action he would take in the first 100 days of his presidency.

"What steps should we take as a nation to alleviate the effects of racial exclusion and racial discrimination?" Morial asked.

The House voted this week to apologize for slavery. The resolution, which was approved on a voice vote, does not mention reparations, but past opponents have argued that an apology would increase pressure for concrete action.

Obama says an apology would be appropriate but not particularly helpful in improving the lives of black Americans. Reparations could also be a distraction, he said.

In a 2004 questionnaire, he told the NAACP, "I fear that reparations would be an excuse for some to say, 'We've paid our debt,' and to avoid the much harder work."

Taking questions Sunday at a conference of minority journalists, Obama said he would be willing to talk to American Indian leaders about an apology for the nation's treatment of their people.

Pressed for his position on apologizing to blacks or offering reparations, Obama said he was more interested in taking action to help people struggling to get by. Because many of them are minorities, he said, that would help the same people who would stand to benefit from reparations.

"I have said in the past -- and I'll repeat again -- that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed," the Illinois Democrat said recently.

So therefore he is saying the things we deserve as tax paying Americans is reparations???, is that a statement from a brother or a neocon?

U.S. Holds Firm on Reparations, Israel in U.N. Racism Talks

By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 20, 2009

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 19 -- The Obama administration on Thursday concluded its first round of politically charged U.N. negotiations on racism, pressing foreign governments to drop reparation demands for slavery and to desist from singling out Israel for criticism in a draft declaration to be presented at a U.N. conference in April.

The United States is exploring whether it will participate in the conference, which will review progress on a declaration from the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. The United States and Israel walked out of that meeting, held in Durban, South Africa.

Not only did Obama not want reparations, but he after refusing to goto the UN conference on racism, at the behest of the lobbyists AIPAC,
he then went on an INTERNATIONAL campaign against reparations

And note that it is OK for American Jews to get reparations for the holocaust, but not us for the horror and degradtion of our slsvery, and the equal if not more Black holocaust of lives lost in the Middle Passage .

Also note that is cool to give corporate criminals who bungled their business deals with financial malpractice to get reparations via a bail out of and additional 700 billion after Bush's TARP